Tips for Interactive PowerPoint Presentations

Many of us have experienced this: We give a presentation and when we are done, we open it up for questions. Moments of awkward silence follow. Eventually, a few questions trickle in. Embarrassment avoided. But we know: active audience engagement looks different. Much of my work with clients revolves around designing engaging, highly interactive workshops, trainings, panel discussions, and presentations. I just stumbled upon a short article by Joe Murphy, CCEP (see link), sharing an effective technique he uses to get participants involved during presentations or trainings. The beauty of it: It is very easy to apply, doesn’t require props of any kind, and suitable both for in-person and virtual settings. The technique in brief: 1) After a short introduction of yourself and your topic, ask participants to turn to a neighbor or two. Ask them to introduce themselves and share what they hope to get out of this session. 2) As you finish your presentation and move into the discussion part, ask participants again to turn to a neighbor and discuss: What was presented that you have questions about? What is your perspective on the topic? 3) After a few minutes, harvest discussion topics from the group. Why is this simple technique effective? 1) The presentation becomes more user-centered. It allows the presenter to be responsive to the interests of the audience and conveys to the audience that they and their perspectives are valued. 2) The exercise loosens participants’ tongue. As they speak to each other, they rehearse what they have to say, boosting their confidence to speak up in the larger audience. 3) People are much more satisfied with a session where they were able to contribute and felt heard. The best techniques are sometimes very simple. I hope you will find Joe’s technique as useful as I did. I am curious to hear: What techniques can you recommend for designing more engaging sessions? Please share in the comments. #facilitation #uxdesign #ethicsandcompliance https://lnkd.in/eivNaqZB

Facilitate your next presentation instead of simply presenting. In every presentation you do consider how to involve others. Without participation you will simply have spectators quietly judging you and your content. With facilitation you will have fellow participants engaged. Nora Dunn from Saturday Night Live in the 80s told my class of actors, “Your job is not to please the audience, your job is to engage the audience.” (And it is in the engagement that they will be pleased.) You cannot engage if you only talk, no matter how good you are. The audience, especially today’s audience, has far more wisdom than we do. Let them talk to one another and learn with them. Pro tip: Never say,” Turn to the person next to you”. Instead get them moving with “When I give you the signal I want you to get up find two other people who are not at your table and go and sit with them to form a group of three AWAY from the tables (you will have to enforce this). Then tell them what to discuss for 5-8 minutes (not too long or they will start talking about sports and their kids) then ask, “What did you just LEARN from your group?” (rather than “What did you just talk about?”) and then wait in silence. When they start talking you have engagement. #Facilitator #Facilitating #Facilitation #FacilitationSkills

"Ever sat through a presentation drowning in content, feeling like the presenter turned it into a thesis on PowerPoint? 📊 Or witnessed someone reading each point from the slide, leaving the audience more interested in their phones? 📱 I've learned from my mentor, Craig Valentine, that 'When you Squeeze information in, You Squeeze your audience out.' To keep your audience captivated: 1️⃣ Embrace visuals over content overload. 2️⃣ Weave in personal stories to make it relatable. 3️⃣ Use Analogies to simplify complex points. 4️⃣ Deploy metaphors for memorable takeaways. 5️⃣ Engage them with interactive activities. The goal? Keep them on the edge of their seats, involved and evolving throughout your presentation. Because when you involve them, they will evolve! 🚀 #PresentationTips #EngagementMatters" #letsgrowtogether #publicspeaking